Forgetfulness - Billy Collins Animated Poetry

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View poetry in an entirely new and innovative way. Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate and one of America's best-selling poets, reads his poem "Forgetfulness" with animation by Julian Grey of Headgear. Noted for their intelligent humor, accessibility and observations on daily life, Collins' popular poems come alive further in a series of animated poems produced by JWT-NY. - - - - - - The Poem - The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones. Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay. Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.

Channel: Film & Animation
Uploaded: January 24, 2006 at 10:51 am
Author: smjwt

Length: 0:01:51
Rating: 4.54
Views: 410,709

Tags: poet laureat poetry Billy Collins animation JWT NY forget forgetting

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Video Comments:
cjzemam (Monday 17th of November 2008 09:29:58 PM)
Ouch! My emotions hurt now.
mattdamonlover110 (Monday 17th of November 2008 02:58:43 AM)
I love this poem, but it sounds kind of monotone no lie. I tend to read it a little differently.
frustriert (Wednesday 12th of November 2008 11:56:04 AM)
in my opinion metaphors r gay and poems r even more but eeehh ... dunno how to express myself here ... i somehow like it a lil ... ahh fuck it dude its AWESOME !!! (made me cry - but im still a man :)
ando6050 (Tuesday 28th of October 2008 07:50:27 PM)
Hum...better pass along all we know as soon as possible, otherwise what's the point.....
clemensetz (Monday 20th of October 2008 01:20:46 PM)
His voice reminds me a little bit of Kevin Spacey's.
buberandthebee (Sunday 19th of October 2008 01:22:56 PM)
You have to experience people or friends or family with dementia, or who become comatose, and fear a similar loss, to understand the poem. The loss of memory to me is death - a melancholic stillness I have seen over and over in the hospital. If I had not experienced death in others, the death of mind followed by bodily death, the poem wouldn't resonate with me. But it does, strongly. The poem tells me that we are all more acquainted with death than we think, we feel it intimately and daily.
FOSUK2008 (Friday 10th of October 2008 05:57:38 AM)
This is really very beautiful and melancholy. Its humbling and honest. The animation is great and reminds me of a painting . The same sorts of feelings evoked in Oil. Beautifully done..
beyonder (Thursday 9th of October 2008 11:53:52 PM)
beautiful
lorikaye61 (Monday 6th of October 2008 12:32:58 PM)
i love this poem.......it reminds me of my mom when she got brain cancer
azngurl321 (Sunday 5th of October 2008 12:48:09 PM)
Poems are only interperted best by your own perspective. I believe this poem is about losing yourself and finding a name for yourself.